People Are Angry About This Super Bowl Commercial And Here's Why
5 February 2018, 15:55
Dodge have come under major fire for their choice of voiceover in their big game TV spot.
Viewers of last night's Super Bowl (February 4th) were left angry after one particular commercial used a speech by Martin Luther King.
While most of the notoriously expensive-to-air commercials chose a more comedic route, car company Dodge decided to try for an inspirational clip using an MLK speech delivered 50 years ago.
Official Ram Trucks Super Bowl Commercial | Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. | Built to Serve
While the intention was to draw attention to Ram Nation, a volunteer organisation made up of truck owners, many were dismayed at the use of such an important political speech to sell cars during the Super Bowl, particularly given the friction between the NFL and the Black Lives Matter movement over the last year:
Black people cant kneel and play football but MLK should be used to sell trucks during the super bowl. Unbelievable.
— Akilah Hughes (@AkilahObviously) February 5, 2018
Don't use MLK to sell fucking trucks.That ad turned my stomach @Dodge
— Oliver Willis (@owillis) February 5, 2018
Bernice King, the daughter of MLK, also confirmed on Twitter that she had not been consulted about the commercial:
MLK Jr.'s daughter Bernice King on the use of her father's voice in the Dodge ad. pic.twitter.com/4KvTqrwQ3C
— Michael Del Moro (@MikeDelMoro) February 5, 2018
Many viewers also noted that the same sermon contained criticism of advertising, specifically car commercials.
In fact, some have already edited these words over the existing commercial:
OMG someone overlayed that ridiculous Dodge/MLK ad with what King actually said about capitalism and car commercials pic.twitter.com/9IB528mCyt
— Astead (@AsteadWesley) February 5, 2018
Dodge have yet to comment on the controversy at the time of writing.